


Band-Aids

by CatchyArtz



Category: Lego Ninjago
Genre: Angst, Bruiseshipping (if you fancy it), Coping, Grief, Implied/Referenced Character Death, Jay overworks himself to cope, it aint good chief
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-07-05
Updated: 2019-07-05
Packaged: 2020-06-09 21:46:13
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,531
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19484662
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/CatchyArtz/pseuds/CatchyArtz
Summary: Jay's parents have passed away, and he's having a hard time coping. Thankfully he has a best friend to help, even if he believes he doesn't need it.





	Band-Aids

It happened so suddenly.

Edna Walker fell in the trailer. Ed was working in the junkyard and didn’t find her until a couple hours later. He died a week later of heart issues; the doctors speculated it may have been heartbreak.

Both of his parents. Gone forever in the course of a week.

At first, Jay couldn’t feel anything. It was like the whole world grew heavy and silent, and the master of lightning had felt like he might not ever feel happy again. He was okay with that at the time. How could anyone feel happy when two of the most important people in Jay’s life were torn from him faster than a blink?

But after a while, after the call and the funeral and the numbness, Jay began to feel again. It was anger at first— uncontrollable fury that punctured the clear skies above his parent’s trailer with flashes of lightning followed by the sharp crack of thunder. And soon, _that_ turned to sadness. The sort of sadness that’s inescapable, that feels like great black ocean waves swelling in your chest, then shoving down with all their might.

It felt so _helpless_. As if Jay were at the mercy of the sea, he could do nothing but wait for the waves to stop tossing him whichever way it pleased, and try his best to keep his head afloat.

Jay prayed for the numbness to come back, and when it didn’t he decided to try and force it. He took a drive to one of his warehouses with a few toolboxes and some scrap metal and got to work— _non-stop_ work. It was a few days before someone found him.

Jay didn’t even look up at the sound of the door rattling open, and still refused to lift his head as a familiar hulking figure stepped up to his workbench.

Cole. Usually, Jay would be thrilled to see his best friend, but right now he just wanted him gone.

There was silence at first while Cole struggled to look at the shell of his friend before him. Jay’s reddish brown hair was a wild mess-- even more so than usual. Some parts of it were slick with oil and grime, his face in the same condition. There were dark circles under his once electric blue eyes, now dull with grief. His clothes hung sadly off him as a result of his weight loss. Cole was silently horrified at the sight. The blue ninja barely had any muscle on him to begin with. At last Cole’s voice unstuck itself from his throat.

“Jay.”

Jay huffed and ducked his head lower into his work, hands tightening around the piece of machinery he was currently fiddling with. “I don’t wanna talk.”

Cole made a gruff noise that sounded half snort, half grunt. “Tough.” He came around the table and sat down next to Jay, carefully choosing to give the prickly lightning elemental some space. “Jay, you don’t look like you’ve slept in days. Have you eaten anything?”

Ignoring the concerned query, Jay answered with a question of his own. “How did you find me?”

“I checked every warehouse in Ninjago City looking for you.” Jay felt Cole’s steady gaze at his side, the sensation sending pricks down his spine and sabotaging his concentration on the task at hand.

“Well, congratulations, you found me. Now can you leave?” Jay didn’t bother hiding the irritation in his voice.

“‘Fraid not, Sparky. Have you looked in a mirror lately? If anything, finally seeing you just further convinced me to stay.”

The casualty in which Cole spoke only served to anger Jay further. He twisted his tool a bit too hard and it slid from his right hand into his left ring finger. He cursed under his breath and reached under the table to grab the first-aid kit. It wasn’t until he failed to pick it up several times that he realized his hands were shaking.

Without a word, Cole brought out the kit for him and opened it, sorting through its contents for disinfectant, ointment, and a band-aid.

“I can do it,” Jay snapped and drew his hand away as Cole brought a wet towelette to the wound.

Cole stopped but gave Jay a look. Surprisingly, he gave. “Okay.” He handed the smaller man the towelette and leaned back, passively watching him. “So, this is what you’ve been doing.” Cole scanned the contents of the warehouse. There were a few old inventions of Jay’s, coated with thin layers of dust and tucked away near the walls. His more recent creations laid right next to the workbench. There were a lot, but most were small things that looked as if they had little to no purpose. As if Jay had hastily put them together without much thought. “Gotta say, you’ve made better things,” Cole chuckled.

Jay shot Cole a sharp glare which caused his easy smile to drop. “Why are you here, Cole?” The brunette asked, turning his gaze once more to cleaning and dressing the small cut which was now bleeding slightly.

“Well, you’ve gotta rejoin society eventually.”

“Says who?” Jay murmured, trying to force the shake in his hands still. He cursed under his breath as he tried(and failed) to lower the bandaid onto the wound.

“Says _us_. We’re worried about you, Jay— the whole team. What kind of best friend would I be if I left you like this? You gotta take care of yourself.”

Jay barked a sharp, humorless laugh. “Take care of myself. Sure. How can I bring myself to take care of myself when they’re…” He hated saying the word. “...gone?” Cole opened his mouth to speak, but before he could Jay continued. “I knew it would happen someday. Just… not so soon. There was so much more I wanted to do with them. I wish I had put in more effort to spend time with them while they were here.” Jay had had finished tending to the wound, and his hands fiddled with the band-aid wrapper in his lap.

“We’ve been busy,” Cole pointed out. “Saving Ninjago and all. It’s not your fault.”

The lightning elemental’s face pinched into a frustrated cringe. “That’s no excuse for not seeing them more,” Jay pressed.

“There’s no way you could’ve known.”

“But I _did_! I knew it was going to happen but I just… I brushed it off so many times and I-I…” Jay’s walls finally broke. After so long of trying to feel nothing, the wave of sadness that hit him was overwhelming. His shoulders rounded as he curled into himself on the bench, hands coming up to hide his teary eyes. Jay screwed his eyes shut tight, causing a few tears to leak down his cheeks. And once they started, he couldn’t seem to stop. Each sob let out was punctuated by a sharp inhale, so that it sounded almost like the lightning elemental was hyperventilating. Jay was vaguely aware that Cole had wrapped his large arms around him, and he leaned into his best friend’s welcoming body. Cole squeezed his shoulders gently and combed his fingers through Jay’s bird’s nest of hair as the smaller man wept. When he calmed down a bit, Jay took a few stuttering breaths before attempting to speak again, and when he did he almost didn’t recognize the shaky voice that came out. “I just want them back, Cole.”

“I know, Jay.”

The softness in Cole’s voice made Jay look at him for the first time since he came in. _Really_ look at him. He looked… tired. And sad. The usually raucous lightning master kept his mouth shut in this moment. It looked like Cole was about to start sharing something important. He rarely opened up about anything, his personal life least of all.

“I know more than most how hard it is to lose someone you love so soon. _Too_ soon. And lemme tell you something, Jay: you won’t forget this feeling, or the loss. But that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t move on. Grieving is good, but at one point you must learn to let go.” Cole offered Jay a weak, pained smile. His warm brown eyes were soft and gentle as he brushed a stray strand of hair away from Jay’s sticky forehead. “I know it’s hard, but you’ve got me. You’ve got the team. We’re here if you’re ready for us.”

Jay had teared up all over again throughout Cole’s speech, this time the tears bittersweet. Cole really cared about him a lot to come all the way out here and share this wisdom with him. The lightning elemental suddenly felt guilty.

“I’m sorry,” the brunette mumbled, rubbing hard at his bloodshot eyes.

Cole blinked. “What for?”

“For snapping at you like that. And… for holing myself up. I’m really grateful for you and everyone.”

The earth ninja beamed at his friend, squeezing his shoulder gently in a side-hug. “I know. Don’t worry, I was expecting some attitude.”

Jay smiled for the first time since his parents’ death. It was small and timid, but at least it was something. Cole felt Jay’s cheek draw up against his shoulder, and grinned wider.


End file.
